Thank you for visiting my legislative website. It is my honor to serve the citizens of the 13th Senate District in the Illinois General Assembly. On this website, you can learn a little bit about me, my record in the General Assembly, and the services I can provide you. I always welcome feedback from my constituents, so if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Last month, Governor Rauner invoked Teddy Roosevelt’s words to commend the Senate for engaging in the necessary, grueling work of public service. Senators are in the arena, he said, “covered in blood, covered in mud, covered in sweat, getting hit and attacked, and suffering, but in there working, in there battling.”

Indeed, our efforts to craft a bipartisan budget solution are difficult and important work. Senate leadership has shown a great willingness to craft a bipartisan compromise. And we are operating with an unprecedented amount of pressure. Every day that passes without a budget is a day that our state’s backlog grows, that vital services limp by without adequate funding. And so yes, Republican and Democratic senators have entered the arena, together, day after day, to fulfill our obligation to present a budget.

With the governor’s annual budget address approaching, I invite him to join us in advancing a plan rather than undermining one. As Roosevelt also said in the speech the governor referenced, credit does not belong to the critic who points out “where the doer of deeds could have done them better.” Perhaps our budget proposal is not perfect, but we are doing the deed to craft it. This year, I look forward to the governor entering the arena and proposing his plan for a balanced budget.